(Dooly vs. Pikachu)I found this pretty interesting journal article titled, "Manhwa, Manga, and Cultural Identity: Comic Readers and Nationalism in Korea" (i tried to upload the original to mediafire as alternative link, but it couldn't be b/c "virus found," so this is copy-pasted doc). It was written by a Japanese, Chie Yamanaka, and it's about the anxiety that Korean manhwa fans have about their consumption of Japanese manga and anime. I got to admit that I feel the same way about my liking of Japanese anime and music & that's why I think I quit my previous blog, Flavcorn, and started dokebiclub that focuses solely on Korean manhwa & animation. As I've written in a previous post titled, "Korean Animation," there aren't that many Korean animated works out there, so Korean manhwa fans can't help but watch Japanese anime.
The author points out an inherent contradiction with S. Korea's general rejection of Japanese pop culture (cultural ban on Japanese imports was lifted in 2003) - Korean pop culture is a hybrid culture that already includes Japanese cultural elements. Pepero, for example, is a copy of Japanese Pocky. Even the educational (i.e. elementary 1-6 grades, middle 1-3 grades, high 1-3 grades; instead of grades 1-12 as in the US) & legal systems are a continuation of the procedures established during the Japanese colonial rule.
Is it a problem? Yes it is! I'm like, "it's not too hard to invent your own snacks... why copy?" It's a problem because it allows hot-headed japanophile retards like James on Japan Probe repeat the Japanese racial superiority argument here. I tried to find out if Japan copied anything from Korea & I've yet to find at least 1. If I were to go back 5,000 years, I could find plenty that went from Korea to Japan, like introduction of agriculture, castle-building, metal type printing, porcelains, Buddhism, etc. So, maybe Japanese should forgive Korea for being a copycat just once in a while.
4 comments:
This article is an interesting read, and it hit's pretty hard. I understand the articles point, and I am in a similar position. As a Korean/American the lack of big title Korean animation/manhwa is a real bummer. I keep hoping that the Korean animation industry will boom in the near future. But for now, I have no problem watching Japanese anime. I guess when it comes down to it, it has less to do with cultural identity, and more on quality.
that's what i think. i only care about quality. it's not right to reject everything that is japanese for stuffs that happened 60 yrs ago.
koreans should be able to distinguish between japan as a country & japanese as a people. same goes for the japanese.
The civilization came from China to Japan by way of a Korean peninsula. (There is no Korean unique culture in Japan at all. )This is "Spread of the culture. "Please do not confuse it with "Thief of the copyright".
Mmmmm, Pepero are delicious! And I enjoy how Koreans can always find a fun way to appropriate other cultural phenomenon into their own amazing product.
Very cool post and makes me wonder why Korea doesn't get more credit for what it does contribute to international culture.
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